Pokémon Nuzlocke: Fire Red Edition
by The Eccentric Axolotl
Summary: Life at the professor's lab was boring for a certain bulbasaur, with only little to do for entertainment and even fewer friends to talk to. However that all changed when a mute trainer chose him of all pokémon to be his starter. And changed it did... But not without a cost. (Inspired by the well-known 'Nuzlocke' web-comics. Rated T for strong language and gore.)
1. Presenting the Beginning of Carnage

**~=~ DISCLAIMER ~=~**

 **-The following story is rated T (fifthteen and above). Anyone who isn't the suitable age, nor a guerrilla among ratings, is not recommended to read this story. Any parents of the children, who read this, would not be put in consideration for the treacherous acts they may unleash upon reading this.**

 **-As I writer of fan fiction, I don't own any of the rights to this franchise (they belong to Nintendo and Game Freak).**

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE: Another thing: I don't like these first two chapters, so maybe expect them to be remade whenever I can be bothered. Anything past the second chapter I'm for the most part content with.**

* * *

 **Pokemon Nuzlocke: Fire Red Edition**

 **Introduction: The Rules**

RULE NUMBER ONE: You must catch the first pokémon you see in each area and nothing else. If the pokémon faints, tough! You have to go to a new area and catch some other pokémon.

RULE NUMBER TWO: Every pokémon you catch must have a well(ish) thought out nickname. This'll strengthen the bond and attachment to your captured companions.

RULE NUMBER THREE: If your pokémon 'faint' they die, no exceptions or revival of any sort. If you run out of any (viable) pokémon, you fail the challenge.

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Presenting the Beginning of Carnage**

Nothing but a beam-white background is seen through the viewing eye. A grey haired man in his late fifties to early sixties, with a lavender shirt, a beige pair of cargo trousers and a lab coat, appears out of thin air and greets the unverified person.

"Hello There! Glad to meet you! Welcome to the world of pokémon!" The man greets the anonymous figure upon eye contact."My name is Oak. People affectingly refer to me as 'the pokémon professor'. This world…"

He takes out a spherical capsule known as a 'pokéball', from the inner pocket of his lab coat. The late-aged professor aimed the ball at the ground. A red beam flew to the desired destination. Out of the laser, formed a nidoran female, its cry is heard. "Is inhabited far and wide by creatures called pokémon; for some people, pokémon are kept as pets. Others use them for battling. As for myself…" He points his pokéball at his nidoran female. The same red beam of light engulfs the rodent-sized mammal, sending it back inside it. "I study pokémon as a profession."

"But first, tell me a little bit about yourself. Now tell me. Are you a boy or a girl?" A text box opens up. Two options open up to answer the professor's question. The word boy was placed above the word girl. A black triangle flipped ninety degrees clockwise, pointing at whatever word the player switched between to. Ultimately the arrow selected boy. The text box vanished.

The silhouette of the figure shapes into a preteen, roughly around ten or eleven years of age. He's depicted as a brunette wearing a pair of light-blue, baggy jeans, a red jacket, a yellow rug sack and a baseball cap with a red base, white flap, and a white semi-hoop logo resembling a Pokéball.

"Let's begin with your name. What is it?" Oak asked.

A new text box emerged out of nowhere. The primary difference between this one and the other is that there were characters to fill in seven blank spaces. The player wanted to confirm their name as "Nuzlocke", but unfortunately couldn't, due to the name being too long by one letter, leaving the player no choice but to confirm it as "Nuzlock."

A male, poker-faced, red-head that looked like the same age as the player appeared before him and Oak. He wore a black collared shirt and purple cargo trousers.

"This is my grandson. He's been your rival since you were both babies." Oak admitted, with the apparent belief that babies can actually have rivalry between one another.

"…Erm what was his name now?" Oak asked, questioning if the ageing process has more effect on him then he realises.

"I'm your grandson, gramps; how can you forget my name!?" He spat. "Then again what is it?" He questioned himself. He began to look deeply into the Nuzlock's eyes on both of his knees. "Whatever you're about to do. Please don't name me anything stupid or insulting like Dick Fart or Ass Hat. Please!" He begged Nuzlock intently. His eyes quivered and began to go damp. He begged even to the point where he'd trade his soul, just to have a proper name.

Nuzlock spoke no words, ignoring his rival's pleas. He grinned menacingly, and gave him the now legal name: Twat. I mean, who could resist, right?

"Er was it Twat?" Oak asked Nuzlock for assurance.

Nuzlock nodded. Oak's grandson dropped to his palms in despair. He told every muscle in his body not to release his teary fluids.

"That's right! I remember now! His name is Twat, Twat Oak. Sounds right to me!" He beamed, the professor was grateful that there was somebody there to help him with his supposed deteriorating memory.

Professor Oak placed his hand firmly on Nuzlock's shoulder. "Nuzlock, your very own pokémon legend is about to unfold! A world of dreams and adventures with pokémon awaits! Let's go! He asserted with excitement.

The white background quickly darkened into black. Nuzlock was ready to take the tauros by the horns, and kick ass with all his confidence.

* * *

Three lab pokémon sat on a green, matted table. A squirtle, his stomach bulged (almost too big for his shell), his glasses tilted and his beanie loose, hung his legs of the lab table, drinking his desired Staryubuck's cappuccino in addition to smoking a vintage corncob pipe. He was often picked on for trying too hard to look and act different. Beside him were a bulbasaur and a charmander who "debated" on who's the better beast.

"I have an advantage against the first three gyms. What do you have that's so spectacular about you, Charmander? Aside from not getting your ass handed to you by a stupid rock!"

"At least I have waaay more fans then you! Something as crap as a bulbasaur, is better off getting thrown off the damn curb!" The duo was at each other's throats like a bloodthirsty golbat, and a coked up raticate.

"Squirtle, back me up on this one," Bulbasaur demanded.

"You guys want my opinion? I couldn't care less." He dropped out of the petty arguing, and opened up his newest flip-phone (that he most definitely nicked from the lab), and tried to lose himself in the few apps it had (they really had quite the limitations back then).

"How about we go one on one? You and me fight now. Come on, pussy!" Charmander proposed, standing up and holding out his fists.

"Oh it's on!" Bulbasaur sprouted his vines, mimicking the same hand movement as his opponent. Neither of them were going to back down for second. This fight is sure to be the rampant equivalent of a blast burn, hydro cannon and frenzy plant combination.

"Oh I'm gonna hit you so hard, you'll encounter starmies! Wanna know why? Because you are a washed out, putrid, son of a—"

A heavenly light opened, upon the opening of the lab doors. Two figures are seen coming out of it. The professor was revealed once the holy light, that only served to look dramatic, faded, he was greeted by his newest apprentice: A mute generic, red jacketed brunette, to which Squirtle commented:

"Look is at this sucker, he has mainstream written all over him." Neither of the other two lab pokémon really got what he said. To translate it to laymen's terms as best they could, they figured it meant 'typical' or 'boring'.

Charmander gasped with exaggerated sarcasm. "Bulbasaur look! It's your destined trainer!"

Bulbasaur scratched his head with his left vine in curiosity. "Why?"

"It's because you're not special, and whatever you'd do in the future, I'd doubt anybody would give a damn." Charmander crudely replied. "You two will have so much in common!" He chimed, with a smug grin. Bulbasaur, just saw the insult as forced and didn't care

"Someone your age shouldn't go in the wild alone. Here, take one of my pokémon! I'd recommend the blue turtle! He sits on his rear all day and never does anything productive. With your assistance, maybe that'll change." the professor pointed out. "Isn't that right Squirtle?" Oak gave him a regular happy smile, that if taken the wrong way, you'd think they were taking the piss. Squirtle looked back with a deadpan expression.

"Screw you old-man." He replied grouchily. Oak either didn't hear, care or listen, as no reaction was made.

"So who's it gonna be, Nuzlock? Charmander, Squirtle or Bulbasaur?" The charismatic professor asked.

Nuzlock spoke no words. He pointed to Bulbasaur with an emotionless expression.

"What?!" Bulbasaur couldn't believe himself. He would've thought for sure he was one of those typical bros who'd go for his flaming lizard "friend".

"Ah, the bulbasaur: an excellent choice. He'll get you through the first two gyms with ease! Not to mention, your bulbasaur, and its bond will grow quicker when compared to the other two Pokemon."

Bulbasaur rubbed his chin, questioning if the bond would really be an actual sentiment towards their future journey.

"Do you want to give a nickname to your bulbasaur?" Oak asked.

Nuzlock paused momentarily he scratched his chin, thinking of the perfect name for his newfound acquaintance. A text box appeared above Bulbasaur, the text box read: He-Saurus.

Bulbasaur (now named He-Saurus) slowly nodded in approval, it wasn't a great nickname, but it was something to tolerate. He jumped off the bench and bowed his head at his peers.

"Farewell Squirtle, I'm about to embark on an epic journey, so long as this guy is not one of those twits who do nothing but stand still all day." Squirtle ignored He-Saurus's goodbye, he was too busy messing around with the phone's calculator in boredom, "And Charmander, you're such an asshole. I'll sort of miss you, but I won't." Charmander ambivalently responded by giving him "the geodude".

He-Saurus turned to Oak's assistants, busy working motionlessly as always. "As for you guys… I never knew you lot… Keep up with whatever you've been doing." The plant-dino looked up to one of them to see if they even noticed. "But really though what do you do here? I see you do nothing but walk a few steps in the same locations."

"I study pokémon as Professor Oak's aide." He-Saurus was not fazed by the assistant's statement.

"That's the only thing you ever say." He-Saurus deadpanned.

Oak continued talking to the young trainer. "Alright Nuzlock, you've received your starter pokémon, head out for the adventure and discov-"

Oak's conversation was interrupted by the sound of the two lab doors being kicked open. A trainer with ginger hair made his entrance, his smile as arrogant as anything can be. His hands, tucked in his pockets. He tried to make himself look like tough shit.

"What up gramps? I heard you have a pokémon for me." The smug child spoke obnoxiously. He shoved Nuzlock out of the way, despite this Nuzlock's expression didn't change. "Pfft, silent guy huh? Try to look like the big deal?" He gave the mute trainer a smug face.

"Hold up, Twat, one step at a time, ahem. Unfortunately Nuzlock arrived before you so he got to pick first," Oak informed who was unaware of his grandson's rude behaviour.

"Huh, really? bulbasaur of all pokémon? You should've gone with Charmander." Twat suggested.

"He's right about one thing." Charmander commented. Twat picked him up and analysed him intently. "Why are you staring at me?! I'm a living thing, by the way!" He spat.

Twat was shocked at Charmander's response. "You talk?!"

"Of course I do you idiot. No wonder you're called Twat."

"Screw you man." Twat verbally retaliated. These two may have more in common than they may think, some would say they are a match made in heaven but really... they probably aren't... Probably

"You two are off to a good start," He-Saurus commented sarcastically.

"At least my trainer has a personality! Who knows, we might be an unbeatable duo!" Charmander responded.

"Ah, you got me there Charmander. But remember, the reason why you two were chosen to be together, was because you're both a couple of ratty shitheads."

"You know what? Let's go back to when we were both about to fight," Charmander recommended.

"Yes, let's," He-Saurus cracked a menacing grin.

Twat faced Nuzlock "Let's see who has the better pokémon." He released an arrogant chuckle. "Come on, I'll take you on."

Both trainers readied their pokémon.

"Oh for Pete's sake; so pushy, as always." Oak complained, referring to his grandson. "Nuzlock? You've never had a pokémon battle before, have you? A pokémon battle is when two-."

Nuzlock gestured Oak to stop talking with the palm of his right hand. The late-aged professor was left dumbfounded with no words to speak, and did nothing but look around in embarrassment, he rubbed the back of his head. "But I was going to tell you the key points of battling..." The professor seemed to look a but hurt. It was quite a harsh move on Nuzlock's part, even if he did know all the basic fundamentals.

"Heh, heh. No need help for help, huh?" Twat commented. "Charmander use scratch!"

Charmander held out his claws, obeying his trainer's orders. He-Saurus attempted to stop him in his path, by using his dual vines to slap him. However with his quick feet and concentration, Charmander slashed the vines in two. He-Saurus's pupils shrunk in shock, which was followed by a gaping gasp.

A text box appeared above He-Saurus, to tell him to use growl. He-Saurus was ready to comply; he bellowed an endearing cry that slightly distorted the air. Charmander stared at him in humoured disbelief.

"Heh, is that the best you got?" Charmander asked.

"Charmander, use growl!" Twat commanded.

"You can't be serious?" Charmander denied his trainer's strategy. Instead he climbed on a book shelf and started throwing scientific journals and encyclopaedias, such as: _Much To Know, About a Psyduck,_ and: _Your Onix and You._

He-Saurus caught the hard covered journals with his regenerating, dual vines. He held them up, in a defensive manner blocking off any books his reptilian rival could lob at him. The fiery salamander made haste, he dove off the bookshelf and started to lash out at his opponent, luckily for the bulb-backed dino, he saw through all the attacks Charmander can land on him.

With a swipe of his vine he bashed Charmander's cheekbone in with a copy of _Thirty Natures of Ditto_ he held. He continuously whacked the fire lizard's head in until he was unconscious. He won the fight.

"That's what happens when you get cocky, Charmander. I hope you'll learn next time." He-Saurus taunted.

"What? Unbelievable! I picked the wrong pokémon!" Twat yelled in frustration.

Oak seemed impressed by Nuzlock and his companion's accomplishment. "Hm, excellent, your collaborating partnership has already started to grow." As much as the pokémon professor was satisfied, he wasn't pleased with the mess that was caused by the battle. "...But try not to be as reckless when battling on other occasions." He picked up each encyclopaedia, one by one, and put them back in their respective area.

"Twat removed the anger off his face. "I'll make my pokémon battle more, so that they're stronger, stronger than yours Nuzlock." His face filled up with determination. "Gramps! Nuzlock! Smell ya later!" He strutted out, of the lab after sending his regards.

Nuzlock withdrew his bulbasaur. The red beam sent him back inside the pokéball. Much like Twat he left the lab, albeit in a more casual manner.

* * *

 **Authors Notes:**

 **-The following fan fiction was once again proof-read by my English teacher. A huge thank-you is given, once again for his participation.**

 **-This story has no (full) control over who lives and dies, as it's based on a personal Nuzlocke Challenge.**


	2. Into the Wilderness

**Chapter 2: Into the Wilderness**

The thrill of adventure rushed to Nuzlock, as he took a gander gander the hometown he was departing from. The mute trainer realised no journey would be easier without a map. Nuzlock knew his mother didn't own one, not that he really considered it, especially due to the fact that he knew she wanted him out the house the moment he had an enslaved mutant. Knowing that she was constantly eyeing one of the professor's aides, he'd known that she wanted something from him, and he knew well what it was, thanks to the story of the spearows and the beedrill. Thinking about it put Nuzlock off edge; It was a rare occasion he'd change his expression, this being one of them.

Pallet Town was boring, for him anyway. He was never able to leave due to having the only route riddled with rabid rattatas and from what he heard: pidgeys that devoured bodies. He simply put that aside as a myth made by a child or an old koot. Besides, that was no longer a problem, thanks to his bulb-backed companion.

Upon stepping foot in the small field named: route one, he sent out He-Saurus via pokéball. Nuzlock waved his finger forward, as a gesture to follow him. He-Saurus was delighted to know he wouldn't need much use of the spherical capsule.

They trampled, while simultaneously running around in the grass (that barely reached to the ankles of the trainer). Purple rodents identified as the previously mentioned rattatas were flushed out the grass. They'd attempt to gnaw at Nuzlock's shin, if it weren't for the fact his plant-celled companion would collide with them using tackle. He-Saurus was faced with a rattata one by one. His strategies would even go as far to use the unconscious bodies of the bucked tooth rodents as shields.

As far as Nuzlock was concerned, none of the purple-furred vermin had signs of inducing a brain-destroying disease, not that he knew fully, due to him never going to school. The silent trainer was never bothered by not being taught weekly education since he saw himself as a tough bitch who could take care of any solution.

The rattatas slowly grew in numbers, by grouping together. The rattatas tried using swift, agile attacks to disorientate He-Saurus, however, all was no use, as He-Saurus used his own vines to push himself off the ground, he then proceeded to slam on the rattatas. The last standing rodent was left with a sickening crunch, after having the top half of his vertebrae was crushed. He-Saurus looked down at the rattata, its irises bulging out, facing diagonal, opposing directions. It was definitely dead, yet He-Saurus didn't even notice.

A few ledges were placed between gravel road, which practically forced trainers to walk in the tall grass, in order to cross the path (despite only being a twenty centimetres tall). The poker-faced trainer picked up his reptilian buddy, wrapping his arms around the dino's belly. He stepped over the ledge, only to be interrupted by a trainer.

"Hey you can't step over ledges! You can only jump over them, when you're facing the sloped side." This trainer was a young child, approximately seven to nine years of age. He wore a yellow shirt, sport-shorts that seemed comfy and easy to wear and a blue backwards-cap. These trainers were classed as 'youngsters' and they all looked identical.

Nuzlock couldn't comprehend the youngster's illogical statement. The mute trainer attempted to get past the child, if it weren't for the fact he continued to prevent him from proceeding.

"I'm not letting you through, until you use ledges the proper way!"

He-Saurus turned his head to Nuzlocke. "What do we do now?" He asked.

A text box warped above He-Saurus, _'He-Saurus used Vine Whip!'_ which indicated his trainer's command.

The bulb-backed dino tilted his head upwards, facing the youngster. "Please don't tell your mother about this. I'm sorry," He-Saurus sprouted his vines from the bottom sides of his bulb. With them he violently lashed at the child's face, marking him with grazed, red bruising. The youngster wailed in fear and pain, as he ran to the opposite direction, escaping from Route 1.

Nuzlock palmed his forehead, covering his eyes.

"What? Did I slap him too hard?" He-Saurus asked, noticing the annoyance in his trainer. "Oh... yeah. You wanted me to move him out the way... You should've been more direct, speaking helps." The silent trainer sighed as he pointed towards the opening where the youngster ran.

"Are we going to find him and apologise?" He-Saurus asked, to which Nuzlock gestured 'no' with his head. What's done is done.

The Route Nuzlock and He-Saurus journeyed through was pretty bland by environmental standards. Trees huddled up together, from the exterior of the lush lane. Making minimal blockage for anything to pass through. Trees, however, did often block paths with straight horizontal lines. Nuzlock had about clue to why they weren't removed; probably just to force the trainer to walk in the patches of tall grass. If it weren't trees that blocked the way, it was ledges, which were never a problem for the mute trainer and his companion.

"I think we should stop climbing ledges, from what that trainer said, it's probably illegal... For some reason." He-Saurus suggested. Nuzlock's lips crocked up slightly, displaying a weak grin. "Why don't you talk? Can you, or do you choose not to, for the sake of looking tough?" The vegetated pokémon received no answer.

An opening in the assembly of trees revealed their destination. From afar a few houses could be seen, along with a concrete paving, that didn't touch the land of Route 1. After crossing through the opening, they found themselves in a small city. A small, white wooden sign was placed on the outskirts of the paved road ' _Viridian City: The Eternally Green Paradise.'_

Nuzlock observed his surroundings. On the east side of the city was a Pokemon Centre, which notably had a chrome structure and a red, flat roof, and a Pokemon Mart which followed the same design, aside from it having a blue roof. On the North-East side stood a Gym. It was difficult to tell what it had to offer as, the sign next to it simply read: _Viridian City Pokémon Gym_.

Nuzlock was going to investigate further details, if it weren't for the fact **ANOTHER** ledge blocked his path, this one being much wider in comparison and was about one and a half the size of the gym (albeit the gym was the size of a small house).

Nuzlock figured climbing ledges would turn into a bad habit, from here he decided not to do it, only to avoid conflict. A paved path was the duo's only other way of inspecting the gym, unfortunately said path was blocked by an old man with a bald head and white beard, lazing on the concrete flooring, disregarding any consideration for any pedestrian in need to advance.

"I absolutely forbid you from passing! This is private property!" The elder didn't even bother to open his eyes. Nuzlock sighed at this man's discourteous behaviour; He-Saurus was unable to tell if the road blocker was drunk or a obligatory obstacle that can only be passed once finished a certain objective.

"Oh grandpa! Don't be so mean!" A woman by the man's side scolded "I'm so sorry. He hasn't had his coffee"

"Do you want me to move him?" He-Saurus asked his trusty trainer, the dino awaited for a text box to appear, in which it did. Before He-Saurus could lay his vines on the elder fellow, he curled up in a ball, and pushed away the vines.

"I'm not moving! Not until I get my coffee!" Red tick marks emerged from He-Saurus's head, light growls of anger were heard (not to be confused with the pokémon move).

"Mind if we borrow some cash?" He-Saurus asked the elder's granddaughter. Nuzlock nudged his reptilian companion's rear with his foot, implying that he was doing something wrong. He-Saurus looked back at his trainer, displeased. He then looked back to the lady "...Never mind, we'll buy it with OUR money." The mute trainer could tell his partner was not happy with his decision.

Nuzlock pointed his index finger at the pokémart, He-Saurus despite being somewhat reluctant, followed. The mart accepted their arrival, as the glass doors opened automatically.

The small mart had a blue checked carpet, frozen goods in refrigerated containment and racks for goods that need to be stored in dry areas.

A man attending the stall (which was formed in a right angle on the left corner of the store) greeted the mute trainer. "Hey! Are you from Pallet Town?" Nuzlock walked up to the attendant, he replied with a nod. "You know Professor Oak, right?" He asked, "His order came in. Can I get you to take it to him?"

Nuzlock responded with another nod, he was given a parcel, which he put in his backpack. Before leaving, the mute trainer looked around the store, to find anything related to caffeine; nothing in sight. As matter of fact, there was not that much food at all, only items for pokémon.

"Welp, we tried. Might as well deliver Oak's parcel." He-Saurus's hastiness displayed how much he didn't want to spend money. Nuzlock figured that, with no surprise.

"Please say hi to Oak for me." The store clerk said, before the duo continued on their journey.

 _'He won't,'_ He-Saurus muttered in his thoughts.

* * *

Meanwhile in the laboratory: Oak was testing the digital encyclopedias he forgot to give to the two trainers. Squirtle sat on the lab table, minding his own business in boredom, as much as those two fools, that accompanied the tiny turtle, annoyed him, it wasn't really the same without them.

The lab doors were pushed back, as Nuzlock and He-Saurus made their entrance.

"Ah, Nuzlock. There you are. How is my old pokémon?" Oak asked. He-Saurus greeted the professor with a wave from his vines. "Well, it seems to be growing more attached to you. You must be talented as a pokémon trainer." The trainer appreciated Oak's compliment.

Nuzlock presented the professor's parcel. "What's that? You have something for me?" He asked. He opened the parcel, viewing its contents. "Ah. It's the custom pokéball," Oak stated, "I had it on order. Thank you."

"Gramps," That unforgettable tone obviously belonged to Twat, Nuzlock was curious of his whereabouts. The red head trainer strutted in the lab. "I almost forgot. What did you call me for?" His charmander, as cocky as him, stood by his side. He only gave a slight glimpse of his peripheral vision to He-Saurus

"Oh, right." Oak's mind snapped into place. "I have a request for you two." He directed his hand to the desk that held his digital encyclopedias. "On the desk there is my invention, the pokédex! It automatically records data on pokémon you've seen or caught. It's a high-tech encyclopedia!" He explained, "Please, take one each." Oak gave both Nuzlock and Twat a pokédex. "Remember this: you can't get detailed data on pokémon by just seeing them. You must catch them to obtain complete data." Oak informed them. "So, here are some tools for catching wild pokémon." Oak gave both trainers five pokéballs each. "When a wild pokémon appears, it's fair game. Just throw a pokéball at it, and try to catch it. This won't always work, however. A healthy pokémon can escape. You have to be lucky." His long speech continued. "To make a complete guide on all pokémon in the world... That was my dream. But, now I'm too old I can't get the job done. So, I want you two to fulfil my dream for me. Get moving you two. This is a great undertaking in-"

"Okay, okay, we get it! You want us to get pokémon for you! Can we please go on with out lives?!" The bulb-backed dino's impatience silenced Oak's speech. The professor shrugged it off as he didn't even speak, in which that was the case.

"Your Bulbasaur seems eager, Nuzlock. I'll let you and Twat carry on with your journey."

Twat turned to Nuzlock, giving him his signature grin. "I hate to say it, Nuzlock, but you won't be necessary for this." Nuzlock ambivalence retained. "I'm, borrowing a town map from my sis! And I'll tell her not to lend you one, Nuzlock. Hahaha! Don't even bother coming to my place after this. Especially since I just told you there's a useful item in there that you'd want... Smell ya later!" Twat exited the lab, alongside Charmander.

"What a prick." He-Saurus commented. "Idiot, should've kept his mouth shut about that map. Let's take it just to annoy him."

"You've been here this whole time. You didn't bother to say hi?" Squirtle stated, still sitting on the lab table. With a brand new olive floppy beanie on his head.

"Hi. I'm off now, bye!" He-Saurus replied. He swore he heard Squirtle mutter something close to the word diglett under his breath.

* * *

The journey of the duo continued, they backtracked to Viridian City. Nuzlock opened his map to see what else would lie ahead. The brunette trainer's next stop was Pewter City which lead north, he was destined to get his first badge. However in order to get there, they're going have to travel through the depths of Viridian Forest.

To Nuzlock and He-Saurus was relieved, to know that the old man wasn't lying on the road anymore, he was still there though, standing on the grassy exterior of the pavement. He too, reflected delight on his wrinkled face. He gave Nuzlock a wave.

"Well, now that I'm refreshed from my coffee I have what I need to get going," The old man stated. "Hm? That red block in your hand. Is that a pokédex?" Nuzlock responded with a nod. "Then let me give you a word of advice. Whenever you catch a pokémon the pokédex _automatically updates..."_ Nuzlock slowly began to channel out the man's voice. He already heard this stuff from Oak. Why must he hear it again?

"Do you know how to catch a pokémon?" That sentence the old man said. It was sure to bring a mandatory, un-skippable tutorial. The tediousness of this quest would kill him before any beast would. "I suppose I better show you then." The pent up annoyance the trainer was a given, no mortal man should ever be told how to catch a pokémon.

A weedle, with the spike on its head ready to take action, leaped out a small shrub beside the trio. A dramatic, black screen filter occurred.

* * *

All the colours returned back to their normal form. The encounter began, the weedle reared its head, noting that the elder man had no pokémon equipped with him. The old man's excitement wasn't containable

"Ooh, this is it! The moment where I'd throw my pokéball at it. It's very important, you throw the pokéball at it. How else would you catch your pokémon?" Nuzlock did nothing but grit his teeth. The old man threw the pokéball at the spike-headed caterpillar. A well aimed hit, right on the head. The beam of light engulfed the weedle from where the pokéball opened up. "You have to make sure it rocks three times, and makes a click sound. That tells that you caught it." And it did just that.

"There! Now tell me, that was educational. Was it not?"

To which He-Saurus replied with "Not really." The elder man took no notice, at this point the bulbasaur thought only few people could communicate with him... or they're stupid.

"And here, take this, too." Nuzlock received what looked like a crappy, handheld television thingy. "It's called a Teachy TV! If there's something you don't understand, watch that. It will teach you the basics of being a pokémon trainer." Nuzlock knew this 'item' had no other purpose then to obtain useless information, that would be as simple as counting to three.

With relief erasing the stress that Nuzlock had been given, he finally proceeded to Route Two.

* * *

Four rattatas, in the tall grass of Route 2, formed a circle played a game of poker. One had a cigar in his mouth, with the side for smoking, somewhat dented from where he bit on it, he was apparently the star player, a difficult opponent to read. Another who was missing a quarter of her tail, it looked almost as if someone manually ripped it off. The third rattata wore a tatty tie, mainly for the sake of standing out amongst the mischief. The fourth, one who others thought him as someone with an impractical and immature sense of humour. That aside, the only thing that made him stand out from a crowed would be the right tooth on his bucked teeth was chipped.

The fourth rodent smiled all throughout the match, little did his competitors know that he had a winning hand: a nidoking and an ace, both of which had clubs on it. With the cards set in, he was certain he'd win with a straight flush.

The rattata with the cigar bet all in. His opponents, were conflicted of their decisions. The one with the tie sighed, and folded. The sole female, bet ninety of her three-hundred chips (which were mostly pebbles of a specific colour and/or shape).

The fourth rattata chuckled "I'm all in." He revealed his cards "Ya'll sure to lose this bet, like losing your daught'ah to her boyfriend. True too, since that happened to tie-buck here."

"That joke was terrible, Remi." The female stated. She groaned in frustration. "Damn, a six and a seven. I lost this bet, I fold."

Instead of shock, that moulded the star player, he was impressed. The rattata lips moved at a fast rate, his voice took little to know breaks. "Well darny I've been beaten - You got the some serious skills, you scamp! I reckon you'll make yaw'r way to Celadon - Got all kinds'a gambling there." He spat out his cigar and put it out with his foot, he then hurled it close to the dry dirt road.

"You think I have it in me?" Remi asked.

"Ya' beat me scamp! I'd reckon anything's possible! All'ya gotta do is get yourself captured by those cit'eh loving people - They look all modern an' what people call 'hip' for some reason!" Remi was left flattered by the cigar loving rattata's undying remarks. "... As a matter o' fact, ya' got a young folk standing out on the road! Got some weird plant frog on him!"

"Remi prepared himself for a future of wealth and fame. He'd be forever known as 'the first rattata to play poker'... if it weren't for the fact that poker is not a minigame in Kanto... Disappointment awaits him.

"Thank muk you got rid of him." The rattata with the tie, stated to the superior.

"Why'd ya' thank me?"

"Heh, first of, he was annoying as all hell. Secondly... Heh, I would've lost, if he didn't leave."

"You do realise I still have all my chips, right?" The female told the one with the tie.

"Yeah, but ya' always had bad luck, since you lost ya' tail."

"...Fuck you," The female muttered.


	3. Stinging for a Battle

**Chapter 3: Stinging for a Battle**

Nuzlock and his vegetated buddy strolled along the second route, searching for a new companion, only to be interrupted by another of one of those purple rodents.

"Ay, pal. Ya lookin' for a new recruit?" The rattata spoke to He-Saurus, in a friendly manner. It took the bulbasaur by surprise, as everything he met in the wild introuduced themselves with hostile behaviour.

The plant dino reacted in a bewildered fashion, leaving him unsure "Uh... alright then. Why, you ask?"

"Let me guess. You and you're trainer here don't want me on your team 'cause I'm just'a typical rattata in a field of crap, right?" Rattatas had a bad reputation among society, only popular to those of youngsters (and they aren't the most intelligent trainers). Mostly due to their absurdly, shit-tastic stats and being 'The zubats of the tall grass'.

He-Saurus's words obviously offended the purple rodent, "I-I didn't mean it like that." He hastily replied. "...Sorry. What I meant was why do you want to come with us? Money? Fame?"

"I wanna go to Celadon City." The rattata replied. "It's the only town with some gamblin' and where there's gamblin', there's poker."

"You're going to have to ask my buddy over here." Bulbasaur said, addressing his trainer. "He's the silent type, so if you get creeped out by it, I wouldn't blame you."

"Hey you!" The rattata shouted. The trainer looked down at the whiskered rat. "Yes you! I rattata. Remi the rattata, want to be in team with weird looking frog over here!"

"That's insulting." The bulbasaur commented. "And just because he doesn't speak, doesn't mean he can't understand you."

"You kidding? Loads of rattatas tried to speak to humans. Never worked, they either got captured or roasted by their level sixty something arcanine."

"Just come with us." He-Saurus groaned "I'm getting impatient and I want to beat my first gym leader."

"You mean Brock?" Remi inquired. "His onix and geodude are _'rock hard'_ if you know what I mean." The purple rat seemingly imitated a French laugh.

"Seriously?" He-Saurus was not amused by the rattata's immaturity. "Now, where were we?" Getting back on track, the botanical reptile turned to his trainer. "Nuzlock. Capture this filthy bastard and make our way to Viridian Forest."

The mute trainer threw a basic pokéball lethargically. He really didn't want to train a rattata of all pokémon, but going by his own rules of training, this was as best as it could get. The spherical capsule conked Remi on the head. It opened up and sucked in the rodent with its red beam.

The purple rodent flailed around as the beam held him aloft. "hollllly craaap!" The pokéball encased Remi. Right after three shakes and a click, he was caught.

* * *

The fresh blooming smell of spring bloated Viridian Forest, at times like these Nuzlock was glad he was immune to hay fever, not only had plant life returned to be ever so gorgeous, it benefited his bulbasaur greatly as it was the perfect season to further develop his melon-sized bulb. He-Saurus embraced the fresh pollen that trailed with the wind. All the more to be battle ready.

"Ah, I haven't felt this lively in a long time." The dino ran ahead of his trainer rustling around in the tall grass in search of an opponent. "Judging by the books I've read, this is the one of two places to find a pikachu. We should capture one so we can beat flying types." Nuzlock nodded his head in agreement. It didn't take long to find an encounter, it fell from the tree ready to attack. He-Saurus caught a quick glimpse of what looked like a yellow blur.

"A-ha I found you-" Disappointingly, the plant dino realised that it was not a pikachu at all. The pointed body and round head; no limbs, it was nothing but an insect in its meta-morphing shell: a kakuna. "So much for getting my hopes up. Nuzlock! What do I hit it with?!"

A textbox opened up saying: _'Go Remi!'_ The purple rat was sent out of his ball.

"Wha- Where am I." The rattata staggered around in confusion before picking up on where he was. "Viridian Forest, huh? Well I know all the right directions to-"

"Beat up this cocoon." He-Saurus said pointing to said cocoon.

"Ha! ya' put me up'a 'gainst a punchin' bag?!" The purple rodent sneered at the kakuna. "It's gonna do no'hing other then use harden. Heh, _harden_ heh, heh." He pranced to the still cocoon, no change in its emotion. Remi noticed this and started taunting it by waving his tongue and pulling up his eye lids. He then began spinning it around to see if the kakuna could give any reaction... Nothing.

Nuzlock grew impatient of Remi fooling around, he threw a curve-ball at the kakuna with a pokéball, catching it in succession.

"'Ay! He was mine!" Remi scowled at his trainer, annoyed by the fact he didn't get any experience points from the cocoon. As a reference to the kakuna's stationary state, Nuzlock named it: 'Moveless'

"I know this forest like the back of my paw." Remi said "If ya' let me stay out, I can get you outta here."

"Lead the way." He-Saurus responded while gesturing an 'after you' with his vines. Remi grinned and did just that.

"First off, ya see these separate pathways?" Remi inquired, addressing two different routes; one left, one right.

"Uh yeah? What about them?" He-Saurus asked.

"Never take the ones filled with tall grass, they all lead to dead ends. Also, ya' should never go underneath a tree, weedles have a knack of falling down on you and stabbing you with their points. If ya' really unlucky, ya' get poisoned." Remi answered, he seemed to take this scenario very seriously. Likely due to how dangerous he saw this forest. "Alright going right!"

As Remi lead the group, He-Saurus and Nuzlock surveyed the area, noticing children wearing straw hats were swinging nets around, trying to catch mobile bug pokémon with little succession.

"Why don't they just use pokéballs?" He-Saurus questioned amongst his group.

"What?" Remi asked He-Saurus before noticing what the dino was speaking of. "Damn bug catchers. They never back off." Bug catchers, as the title implies, are a bunch of trainers who exclusively use bug type pokémon. It'll always remain a mystery to why they never evolve their level twelve cocoon pokémon (though it's probably because of their amateurish strategies or borderline stupidity).

"You know what? We should battle them; just so we can get a little more experience points."

"Ya' gonna let me join in?" Remi asked, suddenly excited.

He-Saurus laughed. "I'll leave you with the metapods and kakunas."

"What? Ya' don't think i'm good 'nough?" The rodent asked only to know the answer without being told or heavily implied. "...Bastard." He mumbled, though in He-Saurus's defence, Remi was a considerately lower level than him.

A bug catcher who gave up swinging his net caught Nuzlock in the corner of his eyes. "Hey you look weak! let's battle!" Oh boy. Nuzlock felt he needed to be obliged to feel a teensy bit pissed at his challenger, yet at the same time, he already knew the outcome of every trainer who'd say the aforementioned exclamation: they'd lose. "Go caterpie!"

Instead of the caterpie being inside a pokéball, it was inside a jar with small holes in it. The bug catcher opened up the lid and shook the jar gently. "Come on little buddy." The bug catcher encouraged. The caterpie wiggled out slowly and eventually it got out and readied itself for battle.

Nuzlock instructed his bulbasaur to fight.

"Don't mean to be insensitive, but words will be helpful." He-Saurus commented. Seeing how the caterpie is nothing more than a defenceless insect that was only about thirty centimetres (a mere foot) and He-Saurus was around seventy centimetres (over two feet), the bulbasaur saw this as an unfair fight for his opponent. Though that still didn't stop him from grabbing the caterpillar by the tail while dangling him upside-down. "You're not much of a challenge."

"Caterpie use Stringshot!" The bug catcher commanded. The caterpie spat out a line of web that landed on the bulbasaur's forehead, He-Saurus questioned the point of this move (not knowing it temporarily lowers speed). He-Saurus flung the caterpie back to the bug catcher, which was all it took for the caterpie to faint. "You did your best buddy." The bug catcher said to his caterpie. "Here's your prize money." The bug catcher said to Nuzlock. "Take it you earned it." Once given the money, Nuzlock counted the total: one hundred and seven poké (the region's currency), it wasn't much, but almost enough to buy **one** pokéball.

"So not only did I assault this guy's caterpie, we got money for it!? We should do this more often!" He-Saurus exclaimed.

* * *

After countless battles with nothing but mediocre bug pokémon, adding up the total, Nuzlock made over one-thousand poké. The group have almost made it to the end of the forest, at least according to Remi.

"How do you know your way around here?" He-Saurus asked Remi.

"What me? My colony often come here to search for berries. It can be dangerous dependin' what we're up against. After a while, I just learnt all the right ways to go," the purple rat replied

"I never been in the wild. I was just a lab pet that sat on a table with two annoying friends."

"Yeah. Friends are annoying, but they're important, or at least the few friends I had anyway," Remi responded.

 _'Well I could barely call one of them a friend.'_ He-Saurus thought to himself. _'I wonder what his doing in this current moment... Nothing important I'd imagine.'_

Coarse rustling rattled around in the tall grass. Surveying the terrain, He-Saurus saw a lightning bolt shaped tail poking out the grass. "There. Over there, you see it?" He-Saurus whispered to Remi.

"Oh I see it," Remi replied. "We gonna catch it or what?"

"Definitely," He-Saurus answered.

"Ya' gonna be okay fightin' it?" Remi questioned. "I mean there's a slight chance ya' could get paralysed."

"Then you take in for me," He-Saurus responded. This gave Remi high hopes for a proper fight, he did occasionally fight a few caterpies but he just mostly filled in for defenceless cocoons. "Actually..." Looking over to his right he saw a large tree with loose bark. He tore off a slab that was as big as his head. Remi caught up to his new plan and looked down in disappointment. "Is the pikachu tail still there?" The dino asked to make sure he wasn't wasting time.

"...Yep he's still there." Remi answered with a gloomy voice.

The bulb-backed dino turned to rattata "You see this vine on my body? I want you to gnaw it off." Remi didn't even question it, he just went ahead and did it, the rodent was more surprised about the fact that He-Saurus felt no pain in addition to his vine regenerating.

"Perfect. Now, no time to lose." He-Saurus prepared himself a makeshift shield. The vines served as handles and the bark's purpose was to block electric attacks, since it doesn't conduct with dry wood. "I'm going to sneak up him." He-Saurus whispered. Using stealth wasn't necessarily easy, every step the plant dino took caused the grass to rustle _'Screw it.'_ The bulbasaur thought to himself. He leaped over the pikachu, pushing out his shield beneath him. "Hyahh!"

"Huh-" The pikachu turned its head around only to be pushed to the ground by the bark shield. "The fuck, 'mon?" The yellow mouse released wild bolts from his cheeks; He-Saurus protected himself thanks to the bark, and even if that wasn't the case, the bolts were pretty weak. He-Saurus punched his adversary repeatedly with his vines.

"Nuzlock! Catch this pikachu!" He-Saurus demanded, but his trainer simply shook his head horizontally. "What do you mean 'no'?! Not only did I find this pokémon for you, I have him where we want him; and you'd rather not catch it?!"

"I believe he has his reasons." A voice next to He-Saurus said, he turned around and saw what seemed like a pokémon. Looking at it He-Saurus never saw anything like it. To start off with its body was floating and looked like an apparition. Describing its body features, its head was round with a leaf on top, a cone-shaped nose, a metre long body and skin that looked like wood. A grass type perhaps? He-Saurus had never seen anything like it, and he remembered all one-hundred and fifty one pokémon.

"Who and what are you?" He-Saurus inquired astounded, he felt the urge to poke the apparition's body; it was completely hollow.

"I am Nuzleaf," he replied, ignoring the fact that He-Saurus's vine went through his hollow stomach.

"Wait that name sounds a lot like-"

"Your trainer? Indeed it is." Nuzleaf said. "Tell me reptile. Do you have an idea _for why_ he was named nuzlock?"

"Wouldn't have a clue," He-Saurus answered.

"Well since the child can't speak, I'll speak for him." At this point He-Saurus completely forgot about his fight with the wild pikachu (despite it being pinned down by his shield). "You're trainer took a rather... peculiar and dangerous challenge; The Nuzlocke Challenge.

"What do you mean dangerous?" He-Saurus inquired.

"The challenge has two simple rules. Firstly, you can only catch the first pokémon you encounter in each area and nothing else, regardless of what happens. And the last and certainly most crucial rule: if any of you faint no matter the circumstance you will perish." That last sentence hit both Remi and He-Saurus harder than a gyarados colliding into a ferry. "Do what you can to stay alive, and please take note: if the pressure is too much, you can resign under your trainer's permission."

He-Saurus shook his head in denial. "I'm not quitting, this journey has just started. So what if there's the risk of death? I'm not letting Charmander beat the champion while I go rot in that boring ass lab. Who's with me?!"

"Sure, I don't see why not." Remi joined. "If I stay over at Route Two, honestly I don't have much worth living for anyway. We'll battle until the bitter end. Right creepy, silent trainer?" Nuzlock nodded his head in agreement, not that he needed to, as he knew what he was getting in on to begin with.

"Hey shithead! I thought we were battling!" The pikachu spat. "You talking to your imaginary friend or something?!"

"Huh?" He-Saurus looked back to see Nuzleaf was gone. "Yeah, whatever." The bulbasaur repeatedly hit the electric mouse multiple times, however he began slowing down his punches, something was wrong.

"I have the static ability dumb ass!" The pikachu sneered. Static is an ability that paralyses any thing that makes contact with the pokémon. Tiny electric sparks conducted around He-Saurus's vines, he couldn't move!

The pikachu pushed He-Saurus off him, he released another thunder shock attack, luckily for He-Saurus he blocked it with his shield, though with the cost of it catching fire. In a blind panic He-Saurus threw it not knowing it got stuck in a tree full of leaves, which also caught alight.

"Crap," He-Saurus silently said to himself.

Weedles and caterpies that were fortunate enough to be a fair distance from the fire dived out of the tree. The caterpies ran in fear, however In a fit of rage the weedles began taking out on anything that wasn't a bug pokémon. Remi climbed on his trainer, clinging with desperation. Nuzlock with nothing to defend himself with, could only kick them away; it almost looked as if he had it handled, until one snuck up on him and stung the back of his leg. Remi saw the problem and went to put a stop to it. He jumped of his trainer and attempted to yank the stubborn weedle out, avoiding making contact with the sharp point on its rear. He eventually pulled the weedle out, only to realise the stinger on its head was torn off; it was still lodged into Nuzlock's leg. Remi tossed the weedle corpse aside, guilty he didn't take action soon enough.

"Nuzlock, I need that kakuna!" He-Saurus had weedles stinging him all over and desperately needed help.

Remi tossed the ball containing Moveless, the kakuna emerged from its capsule ready for He-Saurus to use. The bulbasaur grabbed the kakuna and started bashing all the weedles with it. Fighting off his paralysis was difficult but he fended off all the spiked worms in succession. He offered to help the pikachu only to realise it was too late. The yellow mouse succumbed to poison and died. The weedles were satisfied enough with the results from the pikachu and fled the battle.

"You guys okay?" He-Saurus asked the group

"No... Nuzlock... got poisoned." The rattata was still riddled with guilt, not even trying to hide his tears.

He-Saurus inspected the poison for himself. Seeing where the stinger was stuck, the bulbasaur ripped apart the bottom leg section of his trainer's jeans. He could already see the tinge of purple on his skin.

"Shit..." Was all he could say.

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

 **I'D LIKE TO SAY THANK YOU TO NUZLOCKE COMICS (AKA POKéMON HARD MODE COMICS) FOR INSPIRING THIS SERIES... and for letting me steal his/her character without their permission or knowledge (Nuzleaf)... Sorry.**


	4. A Rock-Hardy Battle

**Chapter 4: A Rock-Hardy Battle**

"Remi! I'm gonna need something to pull this stinger out! ...Oh shit... Oh shit..." Both Remi and He-Saurus were petrified in fear; never would they have expected that the trainer was the first amongst them to get poisoned. "Remi...?" The purple rat couldn't look away from the trainer's sting mark. His trainer's face violently turned red, as a multitude of sweat drops leaked from his head. "Oh, crap. His blood pressure's rising! That's not good!"

""I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry..." Tears streamed down the rodent's eyes, as he stood there in guilt, not listening to his other party member.

"The green reptile slapped Remi in the face with his vines and forced the rodent to make eye-contact with him. "I get it! You feel like complete shit! But if you don't cooperate he WILL die!"

"It's my fault! I'm a coward!"

"For fuck's sake Remi get a grip! If we save him now there'll be nothing to feel bad for!"

"Remi clawed his cheeks in distress. "I CAN'T TAKE THIS SHIT ANYMORE!" The purple rat lunged at the stinger, and viciously clamped on it with his teeth. He yanked the stinger out of his trainer's skin and spat it out. The rodent breath quickened in pace until it was nearly as fast as his trainer's.

"Remi did you just-"

"Yes! Okay, I know what I did! But I figured since we didn't have many options, I just..." Remi inhaled and slowly calmed himself down. "Okay it ain't too late; I can just make my way through the forest, find a pecha berry, and heal Nuzlock before he dies."

"Yeah, you do that." He-Saurus said smiling. "As for me I can't do shit. I got paralysed by that pikachu, so I may as well stay here for Nuzlock."

"I'm gonna take the bag with me." The rattata told He-Saurus as he took it from the trainer. "I'm also gonna need the kakuna." He added, as He-Saurus (who forgot about Moveless's existence) gave him the capsule containing the cocoon.

"You better get going." He-Saurus advised.

* * *

Thanks to his quick attack, the purple rodent ran swiftly through the forest. He ignored everything in his path, whether it be wild bugs or undefeated trainers, all he wanted was to save a newfound friend (albeit a friend who hasn't even said a word to him). Remi caught his breath once he made it to his destination, as he eyes seeked for poison curing berries. They set in place as they detected pecha berries, high up in trees. The question was, could he climb it?

"Boy, I sure do need to work out," The rat said to himself, wishing he had more stamina than he did.

Before he would climb up a tree, Remi scavenged for fallen pecha berries, though all he could find was discarded waste, cans, wrappers, and all sorts (he even found a paralyse heal for He-Saurus). It was honestly quite disgusting... But not for our tiny purple friend. He took delight in sipping the remaining drips of the soda cans. Surprisingly, one of the cans was left half-full as if whoever had it hated the taste. For Remi however, the taste was sugary, sweet and energising, for a human this was a recommended amount but in the case of this tiny rodent it was erm...

"Hoo boy, I-I think I had a bit too much *hic*" At first The purple rat thought he would've turned sick. Instead he felt a massive surge of energy course through him. In addition to the boost of energy and quick attack, he snatched a pecha berry from the tree and went back down in an instant, with all the fuel he had, he could return to He-Saurus and Nuzlock faster than a blink of an eye, that's if his path was not blocked by bug catchers, the same ones he went out of his way to avoid.

"There you are!" One of the bug catchers exclaimed gleefully. "You forgot to battle us when we encountered you, so now we must fight."

 _'Ya' gotta be shittin' me.'_ Remi thought to himself.

Nevertheless he needed the EXP and had all the vitality needed to face them all at once. The bug catchers sent one of each of their pokémon out for battle (of course all of which were either cocoon pokémon and unevolved caterpies or weedles). The rattata sent out Moveless to back him up and distract the other cocoon pokémon; naturally whenever this would happen it would be a race to who could use all their PP for harden until it ends in a struggle.

Weedles and caterpies neared the rodent and kakuna... At a very slow pace, in a time like this Remi would've simply taunted them and stalled the fight, but since his trainer is inching closer to death, he just wanted to get it over and done with. He started off by attacking the weedles with a quick attack, given the drastic boost of energy he was not only nearly invisible, but rebounded off each weedle like a pinball. The bug catchers were left in shock as they saw their weedles all knocked out before they could even blink.

"Holy, crap..." Remi muttered to himself stopping in place and seeing what he did.

"Caterpie! Use string shot!" One of the bug catchers commanded. Remi noticed this and dodged without trying, the string of web still managed to land on the kakuna, however.

"Hmm..." Remi saw this and thought of something he considered absolutely insane yet cool and the same time; he gnawed the web in half to separate it from the kakuna and caterpie. With the remaining webbing still attached to the cocoon pokémon, Remi grabbed hold of it with his teeth and swung it (with Moveless still on the end of it) like a mace ball, it surprised and clobbered the caterpies and even used it to take out the opposing cocoon pokémon.

"Glad that's over. Now... Give me ya' prize money." The rattata ordered. The bug catchers didn't respond, they just ran out of fear and somehow managed to accidentally drop the money they had.

* * *

He-Saurus waited impatiently for his buddy to come back for the berry, as much as he tried to convince himself not to, he looked back at the poisoned marking on his trainer and noticed it got darker and started spreading.

Before the plant dino could process _'Hurry the fuck up, Remi.'_ in his mind, the rodent came back at an immeasurable speed with the berry in hand.

"I'm back," He said.

"Good. Now, give me the berry," the Dino ordered. Remi handed He-Saurus the pecha berry to feed to his trainer. The dinosaur split the berry in half with a sharp stick and attempted to slip it through his trainer's mouth, though the trainer just grabbed the berry and was content in eating the berry without any aid. "It should take a while," He-Saurus told the rattata.

The purple mark on Nuzlock's lower calf faded away much quicker than He-Saurus expected. The trainer got back on his feet with ease and continued with the journey like nothing happened.

"Ya' not gonna say thanks?" Remi asked the trainer, as if he was expecting somebody who rarely if ever spoke, to say thank you. Seeing the lack of praise (although he could tell He-Saurus was thankful) drained all the energy he had still in him.

"You got something for my paralysis too, right?" He-Saurus asked. The rattata sprayed him with the paralyse heal, needless to say the dinosaur regained his mobility and was able to fight again properly. Knowing that Remi was gloomy about the fact that he wasn't praised, He-Saurus tried to cheer him up. "You did good Remi, I mean it. If it wasn't for you, Nuzlock and I would've died." The goofy smile of his came back, for once he found pride in himself. "Now enough sap talk, let's fight off these pesky tall-grassers."

They warded off all that opposed them, trainers and wild pokémon alike, nothing stood a chance. With He-Saurus getting closer to evolution and Remi almost reaching double digits in level, both knew they were more than ready to take on the first gym leader.

* * *

Pewter City was described by many as well as the map Nuzlock owned: 'A quiet city nestled between rugged mountains and rocks'. The city's position in the region made it one of only two places with a science museum. It was well known for holding fossils and skeletons of prehistoric pokémon in addition to meteorites that fell on Mount Moon that were known as moon stones. But the party didn't feel the need to visit it anytime soon, they believed their journey will host many exciting discoveries and possibilities (...Even with the threat of forewarned death standing in their path).

The group stood in front of Pewter's gym as the glass doors opened automatically upon being approached, they entered without hesitation. Being a gym exclusive to rock type pokémon, the interior design had flooring made out of actual rock; and it was no smooth surface that the likes of granite or marble would offer. They even used boulders as decors, albeit the walls and ceilings still looked like industrialised metal which sort of contrasted with everything else.

The gym leader Brock stood at the end of the gym standing at the very end, standing on a flat boulder for a platform. Not many people (if anyone at all) have ever seen the rock-type gym leader open his eyes, many made the assumption that Brock was blind, blind he wasn't, he and his younger siblings apparently inherited this facial feature from their father, and none of them ever had struggled in terms of acknowledging what's around them.

Before the party could confront Brock however, they were blocked by a young trainer in green uniform. "Stop right there kid!" The trainer exclaimed to Nuzlock (despite both of them looking around the same age) "You're ten thousand light years facing Brock!" The trainer lobbed a pokéball; it opened up and released a geodude. The rock pokémon flexed its two arms forcefully.

"Sure, who doesn't like free EXP?" He-Saurus said to himself snidely. The two armed rock pokémon rammed at He-Saurus with a hearty tackle, only to be shoved away by the forehead from the bulbasaur's vine. "This'll be my easiest win yet." His vine grabbed hold of the sentient rock, and threw him up high, as the geodude descended, He-Saurus battered the rock pokémon like a tennis ball, it skirted across the floor and was knocked out with one move.

"It's not over yet!" The trainer exclaimed. "Go Sandshrew!" The trainer let out his last pokémon, despite how easily his last pokémon was taken out, his optimism was strong... but worthless. He-Saurus struck the mouse pokémon before it even had a chance to attack, and just like the geodude, he went down like a bitch.

"Damn, you whipped those pokémon real good." Remi commented.

With the opposing trainer out of the way, Nuzlock and his fellow party members (excluding the kakuna who was kept in her pokéball) approached Brock, ready to battle him.

"So you're here to battle?" The rock type gym leader asked. "I'm Brock. Gym leader of Pewter City. My rock hard willpower is evident even in my pokémon. My pokémon are all rock hard and have true grit determination."

"You practice this monologue often?" He-Saurus mocked, like always he was ignored.

"Fuhaha! You're going to challenge me knowing that you'll lose? That's the trainer's honour that compels to to challenge me. Fine, then. Show me your best!

The battle had begun. At Brock's disposal he had two pokémon in his party, and started off by sending out a geodude. Of course Nuzlock sent He-Saurus to battle, and since this geodude was no different than the one fought before, it went down in one hit. It's what happens when you have a four times weakness to a common typing and have very little special defence.

"Don't get cocky." Brock warned his opposing trainer. "Onix! Take them out!" The capsule opened up and let out his last pokémon. He-Saurus's and Remi's jaws practically dropped to the floor as they witnessed what sight they had to behold: an eight point seventy metre sized rock snake in height; it's head almost reached to the gym's ceiling. The onix craned its head up and let out a hearty cry.

"I think I've shat myself..." Remi mentioned quietly to himself.

The plant dino was left stupefied by the onix's size, he's read about them in the lab and knew that they were huge, but never would he expect to see one so up close and so early in his journey. This gave the rock snake the opportunity to attack first and slammed his tail to the ground! He-Saurus was barely able to act last minute, and got himself pushed away by the impact it caused on the ground, he took damage but nothing too fatal.

"Come on just hit him, he's right there!" Remi shouted from the sidelines.

 _'Then why don't you try and hit the twenty-eight foot monster, huh bastard?!'_ The shouted in his head.

"Onix! Weaken him with screech!" Brock commanded. The onix let loose sound waves that deafened the bulbasaur with constant ringing, he tried to repel the awful noice by covering his lobes with vines, sadly all was futile. "Good! Now use tackle." The onix charged at him with full power.

A text box appeared above He-Saurus to command him to use vine whip. Normally he'd question it, but with little time he had to react he just went with it, closing his eyes and bracing himself for the worst. The vines made contact with the rock snake's head and all of a sudden... He stopped? With a sudden thud from the ground, He-Saurus opened his eyes and saw that the onix was down. Finished. Fainted. Had he known to not judge his opponent's potential by their size, the battle would've been easier.

"Whoa, that was too easy!" He-Saurus retorted "You say your pokémon are 'rock-hard' and have 'true grit determination', yet they can't withstand a hit from a fucking-" He-Saurus paused his snarky remarks, he felt a tingling sensation throughout his whole body and before he knew it, his body was covered in a blinding light, Remi and Nuzlock shielded their eyes from the brightness, until it slowly dimmed.

What they saw in front of them was a new form He-Saurus reached. The bulb that was previously weighed on his back has now sprouted into four leaves in separate directions and a red tulip that rested on top of them, his skin turned slightly bluer with darker patches as well as being a little bit bigger too. No longer was he a bulbasaur, now he was an ivysaur standing amazed and somewhat proud at his achievement.

"Holy crap... I've evolved!"


End file.
